Permanent Marker
by Alama
Summary: "Lin would always be a permanent mark on Tenzin's heart." Linzin/Pemzin. Set before Book 2.


Permanent Marker

_"__**Watching my soul mate spend his life with the wrong woman became too painful…"**_

_**Pemzin and Linzin feels set before Book 2. Be prepared. **_

_**Disclaimer: If I owned Legend of Korra, Lin and Tenzin would still be together…but I don't…so…**_

_**Read, enjoy, and review!**_

The rooms and hallways in Air Temple Island were suspiciously quiet. With a household full of airbending children, hormonal teenagers, and a six month old infant that combination was uncommon, extremely uncommon. Silence scared her. Due to recent events, silence was deadly, silence meant trouble. Pema paused as she leaned over the sink, listening for any signs of movement. She heard nothing. With a shaking hand, Pema turned off the water, dried her hands on the dishtowel thrown haphazardly over the pile of dishes on the counter, and dashed out of the kitchen. Silence was soon replaced by the creaking floorboards that groaned underneath her feet as she dashed through the long hallways.

Pema turned and soon stood before one of the numerous doors lined up throughout the hallways. She threw the screen door open and stood in the doorway with wide eyes. Her grey eyes clouded over like storm clouds as she surveyed the empty room. A neatly made bed rested up against the wall. Next to the bed was a small wooden crib- an empty wooden crib. Her stomach leapt into her throat. Pema thrust her body forward toward the crib with outstretched hands. The pale cream blanket lining the wooden edge was thrown aside carelessly on the floor.

"Rohan?" a small voice squeaked. Pema's soft voice wavered in the silence.

Turning on her heel, Pema hurried through the island home, air whipping around her crimson and golden robes. Her voice called out her husband's name, frantically crying out for her children. She cried out to the Avatar and her friends. She received no reply. Pema's heart sank. Every worse possible scenario flashed through her mind. _They're gone, they're dead. Amon has returned and has taken my family away…again._

Shaken and out of breath, the woman leaned over in a wooden archway that lead out to the garden, her hand resting on her forehead, her breath short and ragged. The screen door was closed and the light from the midday sun leaked through, warming Pema's frozen features. A flash of light snapped Pema's head skyward. Her eyes widened as the light illuminated from the garden, followed by the high pitched whines of her children. The screen was thrown backward without hesitation and she barreled down the stairs and toward the source. A blue haze that reminded Pema of nothing other than roped traps the Equalists once wielded flashed before her eyes. As she neared the light, it grew brighter, and the cries grew louder. High pitched whines faded into, into… laughter. As the light died down, the scene became apparent. Pema paused, open mouthed and eyes wide.

Her three eldest children were stood in a circle around the firebender, Mako. Jinora rested her infant brother on her hip. Young Rohan seemed enthused by his siblings' amusement. They were doubled over, bright giggles escaping their mouths with wide exuberant smiles on their bright faces. Grey and hazel eyes fluttered open to stare at Mako in awe; he stood proudly with a smirk of his own. The children brought their hands together with an applause that put the roar of a lion-turtle to shame. Pema followed the young ones' stricken gaze to the firebender, whose arm was downcast, his finger extended. She looked down to see symbols and figures carved into the stone, smoking and blackened by the lightning that had excreted from his fingertips:

_I love you, Korra._

The Avatar stepped forward and answered his display of affection with a gesture of her own. She smiled and wrapped her hands around his neck. Pema watched as he pulled her closer and nuzzled into her neck. Korra pulled back slightly and placed her hand underneath his chin, pulling him down until his lips covered hers. "I love you, too."

Distracted by the loving scene before her, Pema barely noticed her kids' aweing and gagging over two teenagers. A familiar voice made her snap her head to the side, "Very impressive, Mako." From behind the circle of children, Tenzin stood hidden in the shadows. He rubbed a tattooed hand through his beard and commented on the handiwork of the young firebender. Politely, he continued in a slightly raised voice, "Now the question is: how do I get the carving out of the stone?"

Mako looked stricken. His golden eyes widened, and his mouth moved wordlessly as the master stared him down. He turned to his brother and the heiress Asami behind him. Bolin shrugged his shoulders and Asami flashed him a weak smile.

"Allow me." A voice piped up, coming to the confused teen's aid. Pema's eyes narrowed as the familiar form of the female's gruff voice materialized beside her husband. Chief Beifong's subtle greying hair was tucked behind her ears, strands softly blowing in the air. Her emerald eyes were staring up at Tenzin. The acolyte's chest tightened as Lin gently placed her hand on Tenzin's shoulder. In her metal uniform, the midday sun caught the armor, making her shine. Pema cuffed her hand over her eyes to shield the blinding light. Beifong took a stance and with a slight flick of her wrist, the indented stone inflated, the carving gone and the stone restored to its former glory.

Another roar of applause, chased by a chorus of awes echoed throughout the garden. Tenzin stepped forward and placed a gentle hand on her metal-covered shoulder. "Thank you, Lin."

"Yes, thank you, Lin." Pema commented as she stepped forward, smiling at the newly reinstated Chief of Police and her husband. Tenzin quickly removed his hand.

Lin nodded at the younger woman, "Good afternoon, Pema."

Pema nodded and smiled in Lin's direction as Ikki rushed up to her, bending herself into the air. Pema scowled as the rough gust of wind ruffled her robes and un-tidied her hair. She stared absentmindedly at her daughter as she rushed in a barely decipherable array of words about Mako's performance. Her eyes jutted up and down as Ikki bounced on the balls of her feet, hands raised up high in the air, fingers wiggling wildly. Once finished with her animated description, Ikki scampered off to the side with her siblings, cooing over their infant brother, without waiting for her mother's response. With a light chuckle and a smile Pema turned her attention back to her husband and Lin.

"So, this is where everyone wandered off to?" Pema's question was more of a direct statement. She watched the metalbender as she kept her hands clasped behind her back. The younger woman continued calmly despite her previous unraveled state, "I was beginning to wonder why it was so quiet inside."

"Yes, the children wished for Mako to display his lightning bending abilities." Tenzin answered her rhetorical question with composure.

Pema nodded and turned her gaze to Lin, "and what do we owe the pleasure, Chief Beifong?"

"Stop with the formalities, Pema. I believe, at this point, we are past the entire huff." Lin waved her hand dismissively at Pema's formal approach.

Pema opened her mouth to protest, but her words fizzled at the tip of her tongue as another voice rose over her own. Stepping in for Lin's defense, Tenzin countered, "Lin came by to discuss some rising matters with the council. We were heading to the study before the children wished us to accompany them to see Mako's display."

"I see," Pema drawled. "Well, don't let me distract you, I'll just take Rohan back inside and continue with dinner." Jinora turned her brother over to her mother before running off with her siblings and the Avatar crew to display more bending tricks. Pema turned back toward the temple home as he husband's voice offered with a suggestive tone, "Lin, we would be honored if you stayed with us for dinner." She couldn't help but look over her shoulder.

"No, thank you." Lin turned. "I have things that need to be done."

Tenzin placed his hand on her shoulder once again, Pema narrowed her eyes. "It's the least we can do after today's work."

The earthbender's features twisted, looking between Pema and Tenzin, before she relented, "fair enough."

"Wonderful," Pema chimed turning away and headed back inside, sprawling young Rohan out on her shoulder, rubbing soothing circles on small of his back. Before she turned inside, she paused in the doorway, eyes trailing her husband and the chief. They walked side by side, taking part in an animated conversation. The two made their way down the winding stone path to Tenzin's private study. With a tattooed hand, Tenzin slid open the screen door and paused to allow Lin to pass through. He waved his hand ahead with a smile on his face and a hint of familiarity in his eyes. _What a gentleman. _As Lin padded through the doorway, Tenzin followed a step behind, closing the screen door behind them.

For a long while after the door closed, Pema watched the shadows move about in the secluded room with narrow eyes. Although she knew the thought was absurd, she couldn't help but wonder their true intentions for sneaking away into the private study. What if… no. The mother shook her head, banishing thought. No. That would never happen. No. Tenzin's past relationship with Lin was exactly that-in the past. If that was so, why did Pema feel a sinking her stomach and bile rising in her throat? Paranoia. She told herself she was being paranoid and turned on her heel, away from the doorway. She padded down the hallway, leaving the shadows to dance behind the screen.

Rohan giggled and squirmed as his mother cleaned and dressed him before situating the destroyed arrangement of his crib and gently laid him down into the soft mound of blankets. His eyelashes fluttered over his green eyes almost instantly. Pema listened blissfully as he murmured indecipherable babble softly in his sleep, sucking innocently on his thumb. She bent down and ran her fingers gently through his dark waves of hair. She planted a soft kiss to his temple and turned her head with a smile. She continued to listen to Rohan's even breathing with a smile as she turned her head. She twisted and placed a soiled infantile robe on the bedside table, when she paused. A picture frame had caught her eye. Gingerly, she outstretched her hand and traced the wooden frame with her index finger. The scene that was captured made her heart skip a beat. She started at the two lovers frozen in time, allowing her finger to reach out and trace the man's jawline. In the photo, Tenzin had one arm wrapped around Pema's waist, her own arms encircled around his neck, her face buried in the crook of his shoulder. Both wore unmistakable smiles. She felt a bittersweet flood of nostalgia overtake her body.

Over the years, and even more so recently, Pema and Tenzin had definitely had their share of ups and downs. Not everything was as peachy as it seemed and they weren't always as cuddly as a pair of rabbiroos. They argued, and they fought. Never enough to call it quits, even though that thought worriedly passed her mind more often than not. It was her own shoulder that Tenzin's hand rested on at the end of the day, but the Spirits only knew for how long. She repetitively told herself that every couple had their fair share of issues. Magic and rainbows were whimsical fantasies in Ikki's story books. They would work through this…whatever it was. Pema sighed as she wondered how continually lying to her own face became the only way to make it through the day….

She turned back to Rohan. In all honesty, Pema was still shocked that she and Tenzin were intimate enough to conceive a fourth child…and that's what hurt the most. Despite her repetitive internal pep-talks she knew…the two were growing apart. When he entered a room, his eyes found hers only for a brief moment before flickering to another person or object in the room. More often than not he bounded over to his children, scooped them into his arms and held them so tight they couldn't breathe, covering their faces with kisses. She received a pat on the shoulder or a faint smile. As ridiculous as it sounded, she was jealous of his affection toward the children. She yearned for him to hold and kiss her, even half as much as he showered the children with affection that it was utterly painful.

The mother pulled the picture into her lap. Tentative hands traced the back of the frame as if she was afraid it would burst into flames before removing the bindings, yearning to hold that piece of her life in her hands again, something solid to hold onto. As she removed the bindings, she stared dumbfounded at an old, worn paper covering the back of what should have been she and Tenzin's old photograph. Instead, she found herself starting down at two very familiar faces. Her chest tightened, if tightened was even the correct wording. Her chest seemingly stopped beating all together, a sickening plummeting sensation that left her breath ragged and short as she studied their faces.

Tenzin, and none other than the esteemed Chief of police, well before she was given that title, were cuddled together in a sensual moment, captured at just the precise time. His tattooed forearms were wrapped around her waist, gripping the curves of her sides as if he was afraid she could float away. Her own arms were wrapped around his neck, literally floating up to meet him by the air funnel Tenzin had whipped around them, her emerald eyes deeply lost in the oceanic waves of his eyes. Pema could see it, the love, and the complete adoration. Something tugged at the edges of the young earthbender's mouth, something Pema couldn't quite recall seeing on her face before: a smile. Pema's hold tightened on the edges of the frame, staring at the formers lovers' faces. Their noses touched, their lips so close to touching. That light in Tenzin's eyes….

Pema stared longingly at the two lovers in the photograph, and the realization rammed her like a komodo-rhino in the gut. She pinched the bridge of her nose, the sudden throbbing in her head overcoming her emotional and physical wellbeing.

That light in Tenzin's eyes that, _still _after all these years, shone bright like a lantern when he was around…Lin.

As her mind filtered the information, her brain about as useful as if she had consumed a whole bottle-or four- of cactus juice she shook as her fingers tightened around the frame. At that moment, as foggy as her mind was one thing was clear: Lin would always be a permanent mark on Tenzin's heart. Despite their past fallout, that mark was never truly erased. Like Tenzin's tattoos, Lin was a permanent fixture in their relationship.

Before she realized what she had done, the picture frame was released from her hand and flying across the room before an ear shattering crash brought her back to reality. Shards of broken glass sprinkled on the floor as she just stared blindly at the wall. She couldn't move; it hurt too much. She was vaguely aware of her eldest daughter rushing into the room, questioning her well-being. She nodded numbly and tried to flash an encouraging smile. "I'm fine, dear." She didn't even recognize the sound of her own voice. Her daughter remained unconvinced and called for re-enforcements.

Soon, her husband was standing in the doorway. Pema smiled.

Lin stepped in from behind, placing her hand on Tenzin's shoulder. "Is everything all right?"

_A permanent marker…_

Pema's smile quickly vanished. Despite her drunken state, she rose steadily to her feet. She stalked past her husband, the chief, and rest of the audience of children and acolytes include without pausing. "Everything is fine."

"…**just like that mark you knew you were making; who do you think you are to write on his heart, in permanent marker…?"**

**~Taylor Swift (Permanent Marker)**

**Don't hate me…**

**That was one thing I noticed during book 1, was that Tenzin always seemed a little off around Pema. Sure, you could tell he loved and cared for her, that's not what I'm saying. I know Tenzin loves Pema, but he does seem more affectionate with his children. He even seems touchier with Lin. While I'm not suggesting that Lin and Tenzin still have a **_**romantic**_** relationship going on- not at all- you can't deny that they still have a connection. Despite their romantic fallout, there's always going to be that connection between them that cannot be broken. **

**Your own thoughts and constructive criticism is **_**always **_**welcome!**

**~Alama **


End file.
